The pursuit of lifelong participation: the role of professional football clubs in the delivery of physical education and school sport in England

Physical Education and School Sport (PESS) has been documented as a complex and politicized context.1 It is fair to summarize PESS England, in terms of subject marginalization, resource deficit and policy indifference. PESS, in particularly, has been expected to achieve multiple outcomes by a range of stakeholders,2 including the promotion of physical activity (PA), which is a major consideration for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)3 in order to support lifelong participation. In the post Olympic era, and the funding cuts and subsequent dismantling of School Sports Partnership Programme, which was previously spearheaded by the Youth Sport Trust (YST).